Listening to others with understanding and empathy - Sometimes we ridicule or put down the ideas of others in a group situation. Interrupting when someone is talking shows a lack of respect for that person's idea. Devote your mental energy to another and invest in your partner's ideas. Wisdom is the reward for a lifetime of listening.
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I have always thought I was a good listener and that I was capable of being empathetic. I could always use my strength of empathy to make friends and comfort others when they are sad. However, I realized some flaws in my strength. The digital story helped me to discover this flaw and helped me improve on being understanding and empathetic. During the Unit 3 Digital Story, I was put in a group with Felisa and Dylan; we decided to work on raising awareness for water pollution. I found it difficult to listen to their ideas because I simply didn't understand how it would work. Because of this, we argued many times over who's idea to use. I thought, why not collaborate our ideas? Felisa thought, your idea has too much information, people will be bored! One example of these arguements would be that I had an idea of organizing a map with many little facts about pollution around the world; however, Felisa and Dylan thought that it would be too much information and they didn't know how it would look like. Therefore, I didn't listen to their thoughts about my idea and kept on working on that idea. At the end, I realized that the map didn't fit in with the rest of the video and that the music was cut off and didn't match. I should have listened to Felisa and Dylan. This made me realize that sometimes, your ideas might not be the best and that others' suggestions may be for the best. I realized that it was important to be empathetic with friendship as well as academics. Not only did this digital story unit help me become more understanding of others ideas by listening and then working out which points are best to be put in the video, but it also helped me understand Felisa and Dylan better; I am able to get to know them and how they think.
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If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening. - Marge Piercy